Beef and Lettuce Fried Rice

Copyright 2008 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
6 oz. ground beef or turkey
½ a head of lettuce, shredded (about 2 cups)
3-4 cups cooked rice (leftover works best)
1 egg
1 T green onion, chopped
1 t white pepper
2 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 T Xiao Hsing wine (or sherry wine)
2 T Canola oil
salt for seasoning

In a small bowl, marinate the ground meat with pepper, 1 T soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and Xiao Hsing wine. Let sit for at least 10 minutes.

In a large wok, warm Canola oil (or other light-tasting vegetable oil) over high heat. Then add the ground meat (don’t throw in all the marinade with it, reserve some for later). Break into pieces and cook until nearly done (about 2 minutes) then add rice, mixing thoroughly warming the rice through. Add shredded lettuce and green onions and cook for another minute before adding the egg (whisk in a small bowl before adding to wok).

If you cook the egg fast, you’ll have a nice glistening sheen on your rice. If you don’t want the egg partly raw, then cook it a bit longer, constantly tossing your rice so it doesn’t stick until egg is done. At the same time, season with salt and additional tablespoon of soy sauce per your taste. (If you have leftover marinade, you can also add some of that.)

Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Pair with glass of Pinot Noir.

TIP: Making fried rice really involves a high heat and lots of tossing of the rice so it doesn’t clump up or stick to the pan. So have all your ingredients ready because it should all move pretty fast and furious. The positive side is your fried rice is a quick meal to fix! (Another reason not to cook things to long is the lettuce lets out moisture when cooked too long. That’s why you add it at the end.)

WHY LEFTOVERS: Using rice that’s been in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours helps in making fried rice because the rice won’t cook up as mushy. The time in the frig actually helps harden it to be able to sustain the stir-frying in the wok. So never use freshly cooked rice because it’ll tend to clump and stick together more.